30 Days Of Thanks - Day 18, Church

It's Sunday and fittingly enough, I am thankful for my church community. These people are pretty awesome and yes, flawed. Which makes them even more awesome. We're all living life... babies, singles, marrieds, youngs, middles, and olders... which I love!

I grew up in the "church"... which is a scale Christians use when describing the longevity of their faith in the the Protestant Church. There are people who've converted in their college years or even in their adult years... but then there is a certain demographic (like myself) who can describe their faith, upbringing and basic foundation of growth as "growing up in the church". Basically, it's been forever.

This is a beautiful thing, growing up with a faith-based community all around. But, it also comes with huge amounts of baggage. Ask anyone who grew up a Christian (any faith, for that matter), and they will tell you what they've "wrestled" with and had to overcome as an adult. Finding ones own faith, outside of your family unit, is often a tumultuous and difficult time to be had.

I struggled with the people who call themselves Christians... and if I'm being fully honest, I still struggle with those people. My upbringing was fairly legalistic, conditional and conservative. Not intentionally... my folks taught my sister and I that appearances were more important than the heart... and accidentally our hearts were lost in the shuffle.

Thanks be to God, but we found our way! Through my twenties I went through a "dry spell" and had no connections or church "family". I lacked a tight unit of Christian friends who could encourage my faith and understand my heart... and this left me feeling cracked and worn. But like every chapter in life, a dry spell allows us to identify what's really important and necessary to survive. In this dry spell, I found my own faith in Christ.

Adversity broke down barriers in my family, and we've overcome the angst that kept us emotionally distant. Honesty and tough conversations allowed us to be honest about who we are in the heart... good and ugly, we see it all. And it's refreshing. As a family we're candid...funky and weird... and open for affection with one another.

Through this healing, I have found repair in my own attitude and spirit toward church. Here in Salt Lake, we have a good group of peeps who really care for one another! This is what the Lord has called us to do and it's easy to share my heart with my friends here! There is little judgement and finger pointing, but tons of generosity. It's refreshing to share belief of Christ's gift of salvation with people are incredibly blessed with light hearts and joy. It's also quite refreshing to share the tough days, rough emotions and real struggles with these people. This community brings abundant freedom and love into my life, which is what Christ intended in his church... and for that I'm beyond thankful.

Colossians 3:14-16
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Happy Beautiful Halloween!

I just LOVE holidays... and Halloween is an especially fun one! I find this holiday particularly enjoyable, because it's meant to be shared with friends and loved ones... and it's the Fall. This season is a time of comfort, security and rest; a time to relax and just chill out!

Lucas and I spent the morning at the park with Katie and Hudson and after a wonderful time of connection, we walked amongst the leaves and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. In this time of what feels like angst and a little bit of sadness, I find myself seeking out the simple beauties in life.

I am very fortunate to be a stay at home mother, and these are the types of days when I can relish this opportunity. Not only am I able to love on my little boy every day ('cause you know it's all snuggles, all the time...right...), but I'm able to take him to the park to see the leaves and the changing of the seasons. And in doing so we have the most interesting and charming of conversations.

Today we talked about the season of Autumn... and how that means the days are shorter and the nights are colder. And when that happens the leaves change colors and eventually drop off of their limbs, landing on the ground for us to crunch and shuffle through. We talked about how Autumn means Winter is coming.

We also talked about the geese who live in the pond... and one is called a goose, but many are called geese. We talked about goose poop (because it was all over our shoes) and how goose poop is really just a lot of bugs and grass, mixed with water and mud... because that's all geese eat. Lucas thought that was pretty gross and asked why they don't go poo in the toilet like boys? I had to laugh out loud, but assured him it was a perfectly good question.

 We talked about Halloween... because the boy has been talking about it for two weeks! We talked about the plan for the rest of our day... grocery store, naptime, Halloween project, dinner and then... trick or treating! He is SO incredibly excited even though the child has never done this before. I told him we'd visit friends and say "trick or treat!" and then we'd visit daddy at work, which he was even more excited to do. Warms my heart...

Sure these are simple conversations and yes many questions can feel so so overwhelming in a day... but I'm so lucky to see the learning and growth happen right in front of me! It feels like a gift on days like these... a gift to be able to play, run, explore and learn right alongside my little boy. These are the days I'll keep in my heart always... even if it's just at the park on Halloween day. These are the simple beauties.

Our Friends In Haiti

Along with a few other folks from Missio Dei Community, Levi and Jeremy left for Haiti today. They'll only be gone seven short days, but their presence will be missed in our home and our community.

While in Northern Haiti, the group will seek out  potential partnerships with Christian pastors in Terrier Rouge and solidify relationships within that community.

While in Haiti, the group will be assisting Much Ministries with their efforts to inspire and empower locals in Gonaives toward a healthy, thriving livelihood. Our friend Grace has only begun her life in Gonaives and will have a very special time welcoming the group to her new home.

If you think of us, please say a little prayer for Haiti and our friends from Missio Dei, Salt Lake City!


--------> If interested, our group will have a blog of their travels, experiences and joys while on this trip.

http://blogs.hungryforlife.org/mdc-haiti-0212/